


Selective Contrast

by orphan_account



Series: Ninjago High School AU [1]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: AU, Adoption, After School Club, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, And introducing Lloyd as the meme king, Angst, Cole as constantly in denial, Cussing, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Family Bonding, Family Drama, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, I don't care I'm here to party, I'm bad at tags there are so many, Is this fandom even alive, Kai as Kai, M/M, Multi, My First Work in This Fandom, Nya as number one lesbian best friend, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Polyamory, Romantic Fluff, Starring Jay as a sassy mess, Zane as the fluffy pure boy he is, platonic fluff, regular update
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-16 23:38:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13646817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The school's Technology Club needs one more member if it wants to go anywhere competitively. Luckily, club president Zane finds a recruit in Cole, resident school tough jock.This would be absolutely no big deal, except that Jay has been pining after Zane forever, and Cole's motivation for joining the club seem a little too personal for his comfort.Regular updates at least once a week, because I have nothing better to do with my life. Whoops.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> oKAY OKAY OKAY S O  
> Long story short I recently dove headfirst back into this fandom, and despite its general lack of existence it is currently the #1 thing motivating me to actually write in a good few months, so I'm gonna tunnel through it like hell.  
> All I know is that there is never enough fanfiction for these shippings, so hopefully the few people in this fandom will get something out of my long-winded gay ramblings.  
> I'm constantly asking my friends for help with choosing the direction and ideas for this story so shout-out to them for putting up with me and being full of amazing ideas as well!!  
> Finally, let me know anything you think about this fic, because I'm trying to work on characterization and good use of dialogue and all the good writing stuff, so I'm happy to know what I did wrong or right.

**Today at 2:07 PM  
**

_BotThought: I believe I just found our replacement club member._

 

Nya tapped at her keyboard, eyes shifting quickly between the computer and TV screens. “Zane thinks he's got a guy for TC.”

Jay glanced up from his nails. “Sweet, who is it?”

“That's what I'm wondering,” she said, still typing. “Knowing him, it's hard to guess.”

 

_ BrokenRecord: Who? One of the science-y kids from chem club? _

_ BotThought: Cole Brookstone, actually  _

_ BotThought: I brought it up while we were studying together, and he said he'd love to try it out. _

 

Nya slid the laptop to the floor beside her and grabbed a handful of popcorn. “It's Cole. The wrestler one that, like, everybody talks about.”

“If everybody talks about him, and therefore  _ I  _ have heard about him, and there's literally only one Cole in our school to begin with, why go on to elaborate like I don't know who he is?” Jay asked, tilting his head towards her with a half-smile. 

She kicked him in the shin and he laughed, falling sideways to slump over onto the carpet dramatically. “I'm just sayin!”

He pushed himself up again with a sigh, wrapping his arms around his legs to rest his cheek on his knees and look at her. “But also, why? Because that guy is gross and why would Zane even be talking to him in the first place?  _ And  _ and he's failing math, so why would Zane invite him to  _ technology  _ club?”

“I dunno, man,” Nya said, turning down the TV volume (with a feeling that she knew where this conversation was going). “You know Zane. He was probably just being nice. I think he mentioned it while they were in a tutoring session, based on the texts.”

Jay grumbled something and slid his phone over, thumbing through the chatroom. “Right, but he just calls it studying.  _ You're giving him too much credit, babe! _ ” He half-yelled at the messages, which did not react at all because words are not sentient and life doesn't work like that. 

“ _ You're acting like that's new for him, babe! _ ” Nya mocked, kicking him again with her heel. “Besides, Cole can't be  _ that  _ bad. He probably just gets a lot of flack because he's a jock.”

“A jock  _ who is failing math _ . My petty ass aside, he probably doesn’t even meet the requirements to join,” Jay said, waving his hand dismissively. “Turn the movie back up, I can’t hear Cady and I need to witness her say the words ‘ _ too gay to function’ _ with an absolute passion.”

Nya opted instead to hit the pause button, earning her an offended gasp from him at which she simply rolled her eyes. “If he were failing he wouldn’t still be on the wrestling team, genius. Besides, it’s not like he’s an idiot. He’s in my honors lit class.”

Jay lifted his arm to cover his eyes, leaning his head back on the couch cushion. “Okay, I get it, he’s not that bad, I oughta give him a chance first, blah-blah-blah. I understand my closed-mindedness and fully intend to accept him as part of the group and  _ for the love of God can we just watch some good quality 90s chick flick drama without being interrupted for once _ .”

“I’m not saying you have to love him,” Nya replied, pushing the bowl of popcorn towards him before he could talk back. As he begrudgingly shoved a handful into his mouth, she continued, “And this movie came out in 2004. I’m just calling your jealous ass out now so I don’t have to later.”

“Look, I am  _ not  _ jealous of some popular tough gu- don’t look at me like that, it’s true! What could he possibly have that I would even remotely want?”

“Oh, it’s just…” She broke off into a forced mumble as she turned back to the TV.

“Excuse me? Are you trying to say something? Because I’m about ready to beat it out ya, sweetie.”

“I didn’t say anything,” she insisted with a smile, unpausing the movie. “You must be hearing things. Your ears are too gay to function.”

“Bitch, you wanna go?”

He pretended to punch her only for her to punch him back for real, making him yelp before they both lapsed into laughter. The TV screen faded slightly as a shaft of light made its way through the curtains, casting onto the screen. Jay noticed and groaned.

“It’s brighter than my future outside. I can’t wait for winter to come so I don’t have to feel bad about hiding in here.”

“Sweetie, it is two in the afternoon. Where do we live that it won’t still be light at this time in winter.”

“Don’t call me out like this,” he said. “I’m too lazy to argue.”

She shook her head, laughing again for a moment, then stretched out with a puff. “Come on, let’s go for a walk or something. Kai’s probably gonna kick us out soon anyways, and we can always watch this later with Pixal.”

“But I don’t wannaaa- _ ow! _ Okay, okay, I’m up! I’m walking!”

He scrambled to his feet with a pout, glaring at the magazine she had picked up to hit him on the head with. “This is abuse, you know. We have a toxic friendship.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.” She scooped up the laptop and bowl of popcorn, balancing them against her hip, and headed towards the kitchen. “Come on, get your jacket and sneakers.”

Jay followed indignantly, tugging the curtain closed as he did so. Autumn allergies be damned, he wasn’t up for dealing with Kai’s impending whining any more than Nya was, so maybe a walk wasn’t the worst idea out there.

Just as he began to tie his shoes his phone buzzed, so he slid it out of his back pocket to check the notification. 

 

**Today at 2:26 PM**

_ BotThought: He said he can definitely come to the meeting tomorrow. We have a full team!  _

_ BotThought: :D _

 

Jay let out out something between a sigh and a long huff, momentarily resting his forehead on his knee before tapping out a quick reply with his thumb.

 

_ BlueBirb: Hella!!  _

 

“Ready to go?” Nya asked, stepping up in front of him. “I was thinking we could go to the park and let out our innermost feelings on the swings like the edgy teen protagonists we are.”

Jay gave a last yank on his laces and shoved his phone back in his pocket with a nod. “Let’s head out.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cole is an idiot, just not in the way he thinks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiya hiya hiya  
> With Cole and Zane I get to really explore the whole familial issues thing, which I'm a HUGE sucker for. Familial bonds and the emotional impact of missing a loved one is an interesting subject to work with, and I wanna do it right.  
> Also? Cole is GAYYYYYYY-

“Do you think they’ll mind that I’m pretty much a stranger?”

“You’re hardly a stranger, Cole,” Zane said, flipping through a math textbook. “We’ve all gone to this school together for years.”

Cole’s own textbook sat unopened on his lap. “Like, but- you know what I mean.”

Zane turned towards him, smiling slightly. “I cannot say that I do.”

Cole rolled his eyes, but he was smiling too. “Yeah, well, you give people too much credit.”

“Perhaps. But it's only done me good so far, has it not? After all, you're already improving. Pretty soon you won't even need a tutor anymore.”

Cole laughed awkwardly. “Yeah, uh, about that. I know you're pretty busy and all, but I was wondering if maybe even once I've got my grades up we can still study together sometimes? Just cause I don't want to get off track or something,” he added quickly. 

“Of course,” Zane said, pausing his flip-through to look up in surprise. “Why wouldn't we? We're friends, after all.”

“Yeah! I mean, obviously. I just wanted to make sure, since you've got so much to do and all. I didn't want to be a burden or anything.”

“I will never consider you a burden. I enjoy spending time with you, be it studying or-” he glanced pointedly at Cole’s closed textbook- “not.”

“I'm gonna ignore that last bit in favor of the compliment. I liked the part that was a compliment.”

Zane rested a hand on Cole's shoulder, nearly making the shorter teen jump. “I will gladly compliment you more if you actually start your math homework.”

Cole flopped over sideways on the pale blue bedspread with an exceptionally exaggerated groan. “ _ Ehhhhh. _ ”

Zane’s only response was to laugh lightly and turn back to his own work. “Very well…”

They both knew how this scenario went, and as he expected Cole was sitting up straight and dragging his way through geometric formulas within the next five minutes.

It was actually a rather developed tactic- Cole hated doing homework, but obviously he had to do it at some point if he didn’t want to fail his math class. When Zane was first assigned as his tutor it was obvious right off the bat that Cole would not be ordered into getting things done, so he opted for a different strategy. After insisting on going to an uncomfortable amount of wrestling practices to watch him (well, they were uncomfortable for  _ Cole _ ; Zane seemed to find no issue with keenly observing sweaty boys toss each other around three hours a week), Zane found that Cole’s best work was done when, of all things, he felt ignored. 

While it was a borderline childish strategy of getting positive attention, neither could deny that it made getting him to do something a lot easier. If he was wrestling, any long amount of time where Cole went without getting to fight or even getting praised proved to result in a  _ much  _ more aggressive and powerful stature when he finally did get to go against somebody. Luckily, it seemed to work for just about anything- including math homework. If Cole couldn’t cooperate long enough to get anything done, Zane just ignored him and went on peacefully with his own work until Cole got restless and did the same.

Cole hated to admit it, but those moments of long silence bothered him. A lot. He thought he would get used to them, but unfortunately (or would it be fortunately? They did help him get his geometry done, after all), they just irritated him more and more with each session. He put it aside, because, well, it was  _ working _ , but at the same time, it was pretty troubling to him that he was bothered by the fact that Zane could just  _ ignore  _ him so easily, and-

“Look at that! You’re already finished.”

Cole blinked down at his paper, full of numbers and shapes that did in fact resemble the problems he was assigned. 

“You’re getting faster at this,” Zane continued, sliding the paper over to scan the work. “Before you know it you’ll be surpassing me. I’d better prepare myself.”

“Ha-ha.” Cole grabbed it back, shoving it into the trapper-keeper he’d been using as a desk. “You and your honors two classes sure are at risk.”

“You’re really very good. You’re going to be a great asset to technology club,” Zane pressed. “Don’t sell yourself short, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Cole stood up to shove his textbook and folders back into his bag, swinging it up over his shoulder. “So, uh, guess I should text my dad to pick me up now?”

“I mean… You don’t have to. You’ve barely been here for an hour. My father would probably love it if you stayed for dinner. We could hang out.”

“That  _ is  _ an awfully insistent number of reasons… Are you trying to hold me against my will? Turn me into a cyborg for your club?” He laughed when Zane began to say something else, lifting a hand to stop him. “I’m kidding. I’d kill for any chance not to hang out with my dad and his soap operas for the umpteenth sunday in a row.” 

“Great!” Zane beamed. “I’ll go tell my father. Be right back. To, uh, turn you into a cyborg.”

As he slipped out of the room, Cole let his backpack slip back off of his shoulder onto the floor, flopping once again onto the bed with a sigh. Zane’s house felt so much more… full than his, even if, like Cole, it was just Zane and his dad. Something about it felt inviting and comfortable and, well… more like home.

He mentally chided himself for thinking like a sappy Hallmark Christmas special character. He was being ridiculous. If anything, the house felt more full because it was smaller. And more cluttered. And because he was there, making it seem like there were more people than he was used to.

And that’s what he repeated to himself, over and over, until Zane came back into the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured I should give some context for the familial situations of everyone:  
> Zane was adopted from a very young age by Dr. Julien. He doesn't know his real parents. (I considered keeping Julien dead but dammit they deserve to be a happy family).  
> Cole's mother died when he was thirteen (he's seventeen in this story). Because of this, he and his dad are somewhat distant. They don't have a BAD relationship, but they can't really talk about real stuff to each other.  
> Kai and Nya's parents both travel a lot. They're trusted to live on their own, but Wu (a neighbor and friend of their parents) checks in to make sure they're eating actual food and keeping the house clean a few times a week.  
> Jay and his parents still live in a junkyard. (I'm not touching the whole season six adoption debacle because I'm preeetty sure it got revoked at the end of the season, but I may make some joking homages to it here and there.) He loves them dearly, but he's embarrassed of being poor and so hangs out at Kai and Nya's place rather than ever having friends at his house.  
> Lloyd's parents are together, but their relationship is full of arguing. They're in love, just... Not very healthily. Garmadon owns a big company that's known for its controversies, and Lloyd is known generally as the rich brat because of that kind of stuff. While he acted out a lot as a kid, Lloyd was smart enough to skip a grade and is now in the same group as the rest of the squad. He loves his parents and they love him, but it's kinda tough.  
> Pixal is an exchange student from another school across the city. The Smiths are her host family. She also has family in Cyrus, aka her uncle, who lives nearby and who she hangs out with a lot while she's here.  
> Skylor used to go to their school but after a messy divorce now lives with her dad, whose big business requires a lot of travelling around. (She and Kai are dating and she's friends with the group, though, so she videochats a lot with them. Her leaving is the reason that the tech club needs a new member to begin with.)  
> Harumi isn't in the story yet because I wanna get a better read on her first, but she very likely will appear later on!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So what's up with this technology club, anyways?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sOrry this chapter is mostly just background to kinda explain the whole premise of the story/AU (in a narrative form, mind you, but it's still not a super interesting part of the story).  
> I'm having trouble working out the dialogue for the scene I'm on right now because I want to work in a lot of the characters but I also don't want to force it?? and I guess I could pRobably get it done tomorrow but it'd likely still feel rushed and if I push back my deadline once it'll only tempt me to do it again and before you know it I'll never actually finish the story and that would just be a dilemma indeed

West Ninjago High School’s technology club was a big deal for a good six years after it was founded. There were forty-plus members all known for their prestigious class ranks, the club had regular fundraisers and dues, and they travelled all over for competitions- and more importantly, they won them.

In those six school years following its creation, the WNHSTC received runner-up or first-place awards in sixteen out of the twenty-odd fairs, tournaments, and competitions they participated in. Plaques, trophies, medals, ribbons, certificates- they had their own display case in the east wing of the school for the last two years because they had so many. The club was well-run and well-funded, and the team it had worked seamlessly together, like a well-oiled machine.

Of course, the juniors that founded the club graduated after two years, and two other members- freshmen, of all the options- took over as co-presidents, continuing to lead their group to victory time and time again. 

It wasn’t until winter of their senior year that the two began to fall out. There were arguments amongst teammates over what they should do, how this or that should function, what formatting and media to present with. When the issue became too personal, the club almost fell apart completely. They barely scraped together a project for their last competition of the season, and they received a devastating thirty-fourth place out of forty teams. It was the worst rank they had ever gotten.   
The year after that people tried to reform the club, but nobody could agree on anything. Within a month of meeting for the first time, they gave up. For three years the WNHSTC went without use, and one by one their trophies and certificates were removed to make room for newer achievements.

_ However _ .

Zane Julien, eighth grader at the time of the technology club’s demise, would have none of it. Having spent most of his childhood tinkering with robotics and coding, he’d been looking forward to a club of such prestige and respect that he knew he would fit in with. Upon hearing that the club was no longer going to be in use, he felt his heart had been crushed. He swore to himself that he would find a way to bring the club back, one way or another, and in the first week of his freshman year he went straight to the office to try to do just that. It turned out that there were a few requirements that needed fulfilled before he could put the club back together.

Number one: have a founder of junior grade or higher.

Okay, so that one was a bit tough.

It took two years, but the day he became a junior he marched right back in.

Number two: have a teacher to oversee the club.

He was easily able to recruit the advanced programming teacher, who was absolutely thrilled at the prospect of bringing back the once widely-praised technology club. 

Number three: have at least six members outside of the founding party.

Harder than you might think.

Over the summer Zane had managed to recruit five people- Jay, Lloyd, Skylor, Nya, and Kai (who had to be forced in by Skylor and Nya, but hey). When the school year started and Pixal showed up and offered to join, it seemed they would finally be able to get the club up and running again, but almost immediately afterwards Skylor’s parents divorced and she was dragged out of school to travel with her father, leaving the rest of the group to scramble for a sixth person willing to revive the technology club.

The absolute lack of volunteers was a bit off-putting, to say the least.

Right when it began to seem like all hope was lost, Zane was assigned to tutor none other than Cole Brookstone, whose albeit hesitant cooperation was the saving grace of their group.

That was what put them here in the east wing computer lab just after school hours, the first official meeting of the WNHSTC in three years finally in session.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> zane's a fuckin trooper if you're not gonna have a tech club waiting for him then by golly he will make his own


End file.
